News Notes

A Softer Approach to Jump Racing Could Save Lives

A recent study found that racing horses on softer ground may decrease fatalities among horses that jump race.

About 35% of races held in Great Britain are jump races, according to the researchers. The risk for fatalities occurring is higher during jump racing than it is racing on a flat surface. From 2000 to 2009, the estimated fatality rate for steeplechase starts was 6.2 deaths per 1,000 starts; and for hurdles, it was 4.6 deaths per 1,000 starts. By comparison, the risk for flat racing in Britain between 2000 and 2013 was 0.8 deaths per 1,000 starts.

For jump racers, fatalities were more common after a catastrophic musculoskeletal injury.

In this retrospective cohort study, the researchers wanted to update the risk for fatalities, as well as describe factors that could increase that risk.

They analyzed jump racing starts in Great Britain from January 2010 until April 2023, collating all available information for each horse, the race, racecourse, trainer and jockey, as well as the medical details of all recorded fatalities in a central database. They defined a death as any sudden death after starting or euthanasia that resulted 48 hours after racing. They analyzed
steeplechase and hurdle starts separately.

The overall fatality rate was 5.9 per 1,000 steeplechase starts and 4.5 per 1,000 hurdle starts. In both types of racing they found that horses that stumbled and fell as well as older horses had higher risks for death (falls: steeplechase: OR 28.7, 95% CI 23.0–35.8; hurdle: OR 41.4, 95% CI 32.9–52.0) (age: steeplechase: OR 1.1 per extra year, 95% CI 1.1–1.2; hurdle: OR 1.2 per extra year, 95% CI 1.1–1.2). They also found that steeplechase starts during the summer and by horses that were not trained in Great Britain experienced higher odds of fatalities. In hurdling, horses racing for the first time had higher odds of fatality.

“In both race types, softer going decreased the odds of fatality,” they wrote. MeV

For more information:
Allen SE, Taylor S, Given J, et al. Risk factors for fatality in jump racing Thoroughbreds in Great Britain (2010–2023). 2024 Dec 12. Equine Vet J.
https://beva.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/evj.14450